Brianna (9 page)

Lorilana’s parting comment teased his senses. Closing his eyes, he drew a picture first of Brianna’s defiant nakedness, then her passionate responses to his lovemaking. He groaned at his body’s instant reaction. Today had been an accident.

She’d been vulnerable because of the dream. When Lorilana had entered the room, Brianna’s shock at her own actions had been easy to read. Her planet was undoubtedly less sexually permissive. Women there probably didn’t fall right into sexual liaisons with men they just met. She might even be uninitiated.

Char raked his fingers through his hair. No, she was not uninitiated. Her kisses, her reactions to his caresses were too experienced, too…hungry. Her passion had matched his. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Somehow, he would overcome her fears; then they’d share their passion until they tired of each other.

Cramped though she was, Brianna soaked contentedly in the small tub. Unfortunately, while the hot water relaxed her, it didn’t relieve her sexual tension. Char had primed her body for an earth-shattering orgasm and failed to deliver it. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and slid her hand between her thighs.

Chardadon appeared in her mind’s eye. The clothing on his muscular form quickly dissolved as she remembered the first time she’d seen him, unashamedly naked. As her fingers stroked, her memory slipped back to the kisses they’d shared, his caresses on her body. Her breath quickened and her nipples hardened. She tried to spread her thighs wider, but the narrow confines of the tub wouldn’t allow it. Her hips arched. She threw back her head and shivered, both physically and mentally, with the delicate explosion of her orgasm.

After she caught her breath, Brianna scowled and opened her eyes.
You’ve got yourself into a real mess this time, Bri. Not
only are you practically a prisoner on a spaceship, you’ve got
the hots for the captain. And he has pointy ears and a tail!

Water sluiced from her body as she rose. She turned a fixture to drain the water. As she did so, a blast of warm air blew down on her from what she’d thought was a second shower nozzle. “Well, that certainly cuts down on laundry bills,” she muttered into the emptiness of the room.

Lifting the clothing that Lorilana had brought her, Brianna found a pair of brief panties that fit tolerably well, but nothing remotely resembling a bra. After pulling on a pair of loose-fitting green pants, she dropped the long, matching tunic over her head. Checking her reflection in the full-length mirror hanging beside the door, she was reasonably satisfied with her appearance.

The soft green color of her apparel complimented her auburn hair and green eyes. Draping gracefully over her breasts, the tunic hung well below her knees, but she certainly had the height to be complimented by the style. She frowned at her bare feet, but Lorilana had not provided shoes or stockings of any kind. Grabbing a comb and brush from a shelf next to the tub, she began the long process of comb-drying her hair.

A musical tone from the outer room caught her attention.

Still brushing the tangles from her hair, she returned to the other room.

The outer door slid open and Lorilana walked in. “My, what a difference a bath can make. You look positively radiant, my dear.”

Brianna continued to brush her hair without commenting.

“Princess Merilinlalissa from Mediria wants to be introduced to you,” Lorilana continued.

Before Brianna could reply, though, the door chimed again.

Lorilana motioned to the door. “The door will open only to Char’s and my palm scans,” she said. “Anyone else who wishes to enter must be admitted. To release the lock, simply push this panel.” She applied light pressure to a slight indentation and the door slid open.

A man stepped through the door, his eyes searching, memorizing every detail. After he’d thoroughly scanned the room, he concentrated on Brianna. His flat, hostile stare completely unnerved her, and she tripped backwards and collapsed onto the couch.

He wasn’t as tall as Char, but he was much broader.

Muscles rippled on his bare chest and arms. His thighs bulged beneath a short kilt, and he wore sandals with straps wound around huge calf muscles. He carried no weapons, but he looked as if he didn’t need any. He was bald, with a prominent brow ridge jutting over deep-set, black eyes. His large nose looked more like a bird’s beak, while what was probably a very expressive mouth was drawn into a thin, stern line.

And, he was green—a deep, olive green!

Brianna was so shocked at his appearance that she didn’t notice the much slighter woman who followed him until she began to speak.

“Kahn likes to intimidate people when he first meets them, but he’s usually harmless.”

Lorilana snorted. “Harmless enough to break a man in two with his bare hands. Princess, this is Brianna Claire O’Shea.

Brianna, Princess Merilinlalissa.”

“Her Royal Highness Lillalistross dem al’ Merilinlalissa, Princess Hardan,” interjected the green man’s gruff, gravelly voice.

The princess grimaced. “Go away, Kahn. You’re too intimidating, and there’s no one here to hurt me. You’ve been guarding the passageway all day.”

Grabbing his arm, she tried to tug him towards the doorway.

Cocking an eyebrow, he gently removed her hands from his arm. “Yes, Princess,” he replied. “I’ll be immediately outside.”

Bowing, he turned and left the room. The door slid closed behind him.

“Fine figure of a man, isn’t he, Brianna? What musculature!

And he’s hung like a Deslossian stud bull,” Lorilana said wistfully. “If I could only get him into my bed.”

Gawking, Brianna wrenched her head around to stare at Lorilana. The older woman seemed serious!

Brianna’s mind whirled.
This can’t be real. I’m not on a
spaceship. I’m in the twilight zone. No, I was in an accident and
am lying in a coma, dreaming all of this!

The princess’ musical laughter drew Brianna’s attention back to her.

Brianna just stared. The princess was almost as tall as she was and built much the same way. Long, greenish-black hair cascaded down her back, reaching well below her knees. Her features were much more delicate than Kahn’s. Nor were there brow ridges above her dark eyes as there were on her huge guard. The princess could pass for human… if she weren’t the same color as a Granny Smith apple.

She gestured to Lorilana, “You may leave now, Doctor.

Introductions have been properly performed, and I wish to know Brianna better.”

Lorilana’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the dismissal, but she acquiesced gracefully. Nodding her head, she left the room.

After the door slid closed once more, the princess grinned at Brianna and burst into merry laughter. “Now that we’ve gotten rid of Lorilana, what would you like to know?” she asked as she flopped down onto the sofa. Picking up the brush, she started brushing Brianna’s hair. “Let me do that, I’m used to long hair. I brushed my sisters’ hair all the time back on Mediria.”

“Why? What?” Brianna stuttered as the princess pushed her around and started to work the tangles out of her hair. “You’re green! Oh! I beg your pardon. I mean…”

Sighing quite audibly, the princess stopped brushing her hair. Placing her hands on her shoulders, she turned Brianna to face her. “Everyone from Mediria is green, of one shade or another. And, please call me Meri. I’m sorry if I seemed overbearing, but it was all a sham. Lorilana’s a wonderful person. However, if I hadn’t ‘dismissed’ her, I’d never have been able to speak to you privately. I’m sure you have questions you want to ask and asking them of someone less alien-seeming will probably be more comfortable for you. From what Lorilana told me, we’re biologically the same except for skin color.”
I’ll tell her
about the gills later. The sooner she feels comfortable with
someone, the better.

Hands clenched tightly in her lap, Brianna gazed solemnly at Meri for a few minutes. Then she smiled. The princess just might be the silver lining of the cloud she was under. “I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship,” she said and held out her hand.

The princess stared at her hand uncertainly for a few minutes and then held out her own. When Brianna grasped it firmly and pumped it, the princess began to smile. “I do believe you’re right. Now, what would you like to know?”

*

Grumbling, Lorilana stalked into Command and collapsed into the chair next to Char’s.

“I thought you were introducing Meri to Brianna.”

“I did. Meri dismissed me.”

He grinned. “I didn’t know anyone could make you leave if you didn’t want to go. I know very well that you planned to monitor that meeting.”

“Why did Ademis have to marry a Hardan princess?” she said in a vexed tone.

He laughed outright. “Knowing our Meri, she planned to get rid of you at the outset.”

“Humph.”

“Put yourself in Brianna’s place. Wouldn’t you want the opportunity to question a seemingly neutral third party if you found yourself in similar circumstances? For all that she seems to be adapting well, she is, in essence, a prisoner.”

Lorilana leaned back with a thoughtful frown on her face.

“You’re right, of course. Although from what I observed earlier, you seemed to have calmed her down.”

Char grinned devilishly. “She was anything but calm, Lori.”

“And judging by the way your tail was lashing when you left, you were not exactly levelheaded either.”

Still grinning, he asked, “Have you come to trade sexual innuendoes or is there something you wanted?”

“Will you ever learn, Char? I only have your best interests at heart.”

He snorted. “Only if they coincide with what you think are my best interests. Now, why are you here?”

“I’ve come to listen to their conversation, of course.”

One eyebrow cocked, he turned from the computer panel he was monitoring. “Do you really mean that?”

Lorilana had the good grace to show her embarrassment.

“Yes… No… I don’t know. I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I feel that I have to know everything about Brianna to maximize our chances of success. We could fail, you know.”

“No, Lori, we won’t fail. And we can’t monitor their conversation. That would put us on the same level as Bakom.

Brianna is certainly as human as you and I. How can we treat her as anything less? And Meri would never forgive us. Do you want a Medirian assassin breathing down your neck?”

Lorilana snorted at Char’s comment. “Assassin indeed! As if the king of Mediria thinks I’m a threat to his family! Ha!” Then she sighed. “I just wish I could be so certain of success.”

“Go back to your quarters and relax. We need tonight’s dinner to be a success, and you’re too keyed up. Brianna must agree that marriage will be the only way to save everyone on her planet.”

“From what I observed,” she said dryly, “she won’t need much convincing.”

Char turned back to his console. When he refrained from commenting, Lorilana rose to leave.

“Very well. We’ll leave Brianna and Meri to themselves.”

She left Chardadon to the silence of his monitors… and his fantasies of Brianna.

*

“Was Lorilana really serious about having sex with your guard?”

“I don’t think so.” Meri resumed brushing Brianna’s hair.

“Ademis told me that she and her husband are absolutely devoted to each other. While many married couples on Drakan are rather promiscuous, Lorilana and Dadon are not.”

Brianna grimaced. She was, for all intents and purposes, being forced to marry a Drakian.
Isn’t that just Jim Dandy. I have
to marry a man who won’t be faithful. But then, this is going to
be a marriage in name only, right?
Shivers raced up and down Brianna’s spine when she thought of Char’s kisses.
Yeah, right.

“Brianna? Are you all right? Brianna?”

She shook free of her fantasies and glanced back at Meri.

“Yeah, sure. Ah…why did you marry a Drakian if there’s no certainty of faithfulness?”

“Ademis won’t be unfaithful to me. We love each other too much. Besides, he wouldn’t want to upset the Medirian royal family. We make nasty enemies.”

Brianna snorted. “Lots of people say they’re in love but lie through their teeth.”

“Lie through their teeth?” A mental picture of a person lying between a set of teeth passed through Meri’s mind.

Noticing the perplexed look on Meri’s face, Brianna sighed.

“Never mind.”

Meri put down the brush. Taking Brianna’s hand, she stood and pulled her towards the bedroom. “You’ll understand Drakan society better if you know how to operate the video monitor.”

Once in the bedroom, Brianna let Meri push her down onto Char’s huge bed. She walked over to the control panel next to the bathroom door. “This blue button controls the video screen.

The range of entertainment is limited to what’s stored in the ship’s computers, but there is a full complement of historical programming for all human planets plus all others that have been explored or discovered. There’s probably some basic information about yours in here now.”

Brianna felt her spirits lift. “How do I turn it on
?” Television!

She could survive if she had TV. Now, if only they had
shopping malls too.